Sanitation Worker Injured in Hit-and-Run Accident While on Collection Route

Pennsauken, NJ (Law Firm Newswire) December 15, 2022 – A sanitation worker was hit by a car on March 3, 2021, just before 11:30 p.m. in Newark, New Jersey. The man was collecting trash at the time of the accident. After the car struck the worker, the driver fled the scene. The hit-and-run left the victim with critical bodily injuries. The man was rushed to a nearby hospital’s emergency room.

A worker injured in a job-related accident may seek compensation for the injuries, time off work, and medical care. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy in New Jersey for an employee involved in a workplace or job-related accident. State law requires employers to maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover accidents that occur to employees while they are in the course of employment. An injured worker must notify his or her employer of the accident. Failure of the employee to give actual notice to the employer of the accident within the time limit set under state law may bar the worker from ever seeking compensation for their injuries. The employee may submit a workers’ compensation claim to his or her employer for review. The employer or worker’s compensation insurance provider decides if it approves or denies the claim.

An employee may file a civil lawsuit and a worker’s compensation claim when a third party causes the accident. The injured worker has two years from the date of the accident to seek damages from the at-fault driver. However, New Jersey workers’ compensation laws do not allow employees to recover twice for the same accident and injuries. The employee receives wage compensation, disability benefits, and payment of medical bills after the approval of their claim. In the car accident case, the at-fault driver may be found liable and ordered to pay damages to the employee. Under the state subrogation laws, the employer’s worker’s compensation insurance provider can recover the money it compensated to the employer out of the civil lawsuit award. Subrogation is the right of the insurance carrier to recover the money paid to a claimant out of the amount the claimant receives from the at-fault third party.

Learn more at http://www.petrilloandgoldberg.com/ Petrillo & Goldberg Law 6951 North Park Drive Pennsauken, NJ 08109 1333 Race Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 70 South Broad Street Woodbury, NJ 08096 Phone: 856-486-4343 Fax: 856:486-7979